Canon recently announced a replacement to their successful EOS 60D DSLR: the 20-megapixel Canon EOS 70D. If you’ve already got the 60D, you may be wondering, is it worth upgrading? Well let me help you out by distilling down the most important differences between the two as I pit the Canon EOS 70D vs 60D.

MegapixelsWorth the upgrade? NOThe 70D has 20 megapixels compared to the 60D’s 18 megapixels. That’s only 2 megapixels more which is only an 11% increase in resolution. Aside from the fact that this really isn’t a big upgrade, you really don’t need as many megapixels as you think anyway. 18 or 20...you won’t notice a difference.

ISOWorth the Upgrade? YESThe 70D has a max ISO of 25,600 compared to the 60D’s 12,800. That’s 1 stop higher, which means you’ll have access to shutter speeds one stop faster in low light. That may mean the difference between a sharp photo and blurry one.

AutofocusWorth the upgrade? YESThe 60D has Canon’s old and pathetically out-dated 9-point auto focus system with essentially no customizability. They’ve vastly improved the AF system on the 70D with 19 AF points and more options. This improvement to the AF system will primarily be a benefit when shooting action - sports, wildlife, kids... So if you shoot a fair amount of action, the more advanced AF system alone is worth the upgrade.

Image QualityWorth the upgrade? PROBABLY NOTOkay, okay. So I haven’t done a side-by-side comparison of image quality between the 60D and 70D. I haven’t even used the 70D yet. But based on experience and the way technology is these days, I’d bet neither is appreciably better than the other. The 70D might have slightly improved image quality, but likely not enough to warrant upgrading. Besides, it’s very subjective anyway. When the replacement to the Canon 5D (the 5D Mark II) came out, people raved about how much better the image quality was. Now, years later, I’ve heard people saying the original 5D has better image quality than the 5D II. Image quality is subjective and it doesn’t vary as much as online forums would make it seem, so don’t worry too much about it.

Continuous ShootingWorth the upgrade? YESThe 60D had a max continuous shooting speed of about 5.3 frames per second (fps). Pretty damn fast, but the 70D is even faster at 7 fps. This can be beneficial for shooting action. If you don’t really shoot action (shout out to all the landscape photographers), then nothing to write home about here.

Screen and ViewfinderWorth the upgrade? EH, KIND OFBoth cameras have a 3-inch articulating LCD screen with the same resolution. Only major difference is that the 70D’s screen is touch-sensitive. The touch screen is kind of cool, but not a necessity. Every function you need can be accessed just as easily and quickly through the control dials and buttons. The viewfinder, though, is nicely upgraded with an optional grid and electronic level that can be turned on and off at will. Again, not a necessity having those options, but kind of cool.

VideoWorth the upgrade? YESThey really improved the usefulness of the 70D for video. The big news with the launch of this camera is Canon’s new “Dual Pixel CMOS AF” sensor. The technology behind this new feature is cool and more complicated than I care to explain here (visit this www.dpreview.com page for an explanation). But what it really means for shooting is that auto-focus in live-view mode and in video is much faster and more accurate. So if you do a lot of video shooting and you want better AF, get the 70D. If you don’t really do video or live-view (like me), don’t worry about this new feature.

NameWorth the upgrade? NOThe Canon EOS 70D is a stupid name for a camera. I understand, Canon, you’re keeping the continuity with your camera names. But come on...the Canon EOS “seventy-dee?” It’s a mouthful. I can’t tell if I’m saying “seventy-dee” (70D) or “seven-dee-dee” (7DD).

So there you go, Canon 70D vs 60D. Other than the points addressed here, the rest of the functions, controls, features, and compatibility of the new EOS 70D are largely unchanged from the 60D. For a much more in-depth look at the 70D, check out DPReview’s Hands-On preview.